Abschlussarbeit

Bachelor/Master Thesis Opportunity in Plant Molecular Biology

Title: A functional motif sensing temperature in Arabidopsis and Capsella

The Global temperature report shows that 2025 was the third warmest year on Earth since 1850. However, plants are smart, they can be highly responsive to small differences in temperature and adjust their growth and development. This kind of morphological changes induced by high temperatures, like elongated hypocotyl, petiole and root, as well as hyponastic growth, is called thermomorphogenesis. There is one protein family in Arabidopsis act as a signalling hub in the control of plant growth responses to the environment. They are normally repressors of plant growth by several phytohormones, but their potential role as thermosensors remain largely unexplored. Interestingly, by looking at their protein structure, both proteins have repeat sequences of amino acids that might destabilize proteins in response to temperature.

In this project, we will work on Arabidopsis thaliana and Capsella Rubella. You will use state-of-the-art molecular and cell biology approaches to explore how candidate motifs influence plant growth at different temperatures and nitrogen.

Experimental approaches can include:

• Generating CRISPR/Cas9 knockout lines in Capsella Rubella.
• Investigating motif effects by plant transformation on mutant lines.
• Studying protein localization and dynamics using confocal microscopy and western blot.
• Protein-protein interactions using IP-MS.

What you will gain:

• Hands-on training in molecular cloning, cell biology, genome editing, and plant transformation.
• Experience with microscopy and quantitative image analysis.
• Skills in experimental design, data analysis, and scientific communication.
• Authorship on publication according to your contribution.

Who we are looking for:

• Motivated Bachelor or Master students in biology, plant molecular biology, biotechnology, or related fields.
• Curiosity about plant adaptation and interest in combining molecular and physiological approaches.

The thesis will be conducted in the group ADAPT.1 of Prof. Philip Wigge, Dr. Maolin Peng and Kaijing Zhang at the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), working at the interface of molecular genetics, cell biology, and environmental responses in plants.

Relevant papers:

Activation and memory of the heat shock response is mediated by prion-like domains of sensory HSFs in Arabidopsis. Peng M, Jaeger KE, Lu Y, Fan Z, Zeng W, Sampathkumar A, Wigge PA. Mol Plant. 2025 Mar 3;18(3):457-467. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2025.01.007. Epub 2025 Jan 9. PMID: 39789846

A prion-like domain in ELF3 functions as a thermosensor in Arabidopsis. Jung JH, Barbosa AD, Hutin S, Kumita JR, Gao M, Derwort D, Silva CS, Lai X, Pierre E, Geng F, Kim SB, Baek S, Zubieta C, Jaeger KE, Wigge PA.Nature. 2020 Sep;585(7824):256-260. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2644-7. Epub 2020 Aug 26. PMID: 32848244

Temperature Sensing in Plants. Kerbler SM, Wigge PA. Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2023 May 22;74:341-366. doi: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-102820-102235. Epub 2023 Feb 28.

If you are excited to explore how plants sense temperature, we’d love to hear from you! Please send us a short email explaining why you would like to join, along with your contact information to: wigge@igzev.de; zhang@igzev.de; peng@igzev.de.